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Defining Prospective Memory Tasks

Prospective memory tasks are tasks or intentions which have been established in memory to-be-remembered to perform at an appropriate point in the future.

Examples of naturally occurring prospective memory tasks (intentions) are remembering to take a medication, mail a birthday card, or turn off the stove after cooking.

Prospective memory tasks are integrated into our work lives: The waiter must remember to pick up extra cream for a table on his way back to the kitchen, and an instructor has to remember to make sure the reserve readings for her class are available before meeting her seminar.

If an intention has to be delayed due to situational constraints, then that intention must be postponed until it can be retrieved at a later point in time.

Owing to logistical reasons, intentions often cannot be carried out immediately; therefore a critical component of prospective memory task is the retrieval of the intention at an appropriate moment in time or in response to a prespecified event.

Most generally, prospective memory tasks are supported by both prospective memory and retrospective memory (memory for past events) components.

To perform an intended task, one must remember to recall there was an intention (the prospective component) and also remember the contents of the intention (the retrospective component) (Einstein & McDaniel, 1996).

  • The prospective component supports the realization that some prospective action is to be performed once an appropriate cue is encountered.
  • The retrospective component supports the ability to recall an intention when that prospective cue is detected.

Therefore, the prospective component involves remembering that something needs to be done; and the retrospective component supports remembering what it is that has to be done.

Whereas externally prompted retrieval is typically a critical feature of retrospective memory, prospective memory Opens in new window is more often characterized by self-initiated retrieval processes which can make them more vulnerable to forgetting (Craik, 1986).

Phases of a Prospective Memory Task

The realization of a prospective memory task or delayed intention (as some researchers preferably call it) and its associated action is described in terms of the following general phases:

  1. Formation and encoding of intention and action.
  2. Retention Interval.
  3. Performance Interval.
  4. Performance Interval.
  5. Initiation and Execution of Intended Action.
  6. Evaluation of Outcome.

Phase A

Phase A is concerned primarily with the retention of the content of a delayed intention. More precisely, it is concerned with the retention of an action (what you want to do), an intent (that you have decided to do something) and a retrieval context that describes the criteria for recall (when you should retrieve the intent and the action and initiate them).

For example, the different elements of an intention to telephone a friend this afternoon may be encoded as follows: “I will” (that-element) “telephone Jane” (what-element) “this afternoon” (when-element).

It is highly probable that planning and motivational operations that occur during this phase will influence the encoding and thus the eventual representation of the delayed intention.

Phase B and Phase C

Phase B refers to the delay between encoding and the start of a potential performance interval, whereas phase C refers to the performance interval or period when the intended action should be retrieved. This distinction between retention and performance intervals is illustrated by the following example.

An intention to visit a friend tomorrow morning may have been encoded 2 days ago. It would have, therefore, a retention interval of approximately 2 days and a performance interval of approximately 3 hours (9.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m).

The duration of retention and performance intervals will vary considerably and a delayed intention may be remembered at any point during either of these two phases. The successful realization of an intention, however, requires that it be retrieved on at least one occasion during a performance interval and on the occurrence of the following events.

  • First, an appropriate situation must be recognized as an occasion that is (a) a retrieval context and (b) associated with a particular intention to do something; retrieval of the when- and that-elements.
  • Second, the action that was encoded with these elements must be retrieved ~ recall of the what element.

Phases D and E

Phases D and E are concerned with the initiation and execution of an intended action, and the evaluation of the resultant outcome, respectively. Moreover, some form of record of an outcome is necessary either to avoid an unnecessary repetition of a previously satisfied delayed intention or to ensure the future success of a postponed or failed delayed intention.

Successfully remembering to perform prospective memory tasks is important for independent living, yet, prospective memory errors are common, constituting about half of all instances of everyday forgetting (according to independent raters’ coding of diaries of forgetting instances; Crovitz and Daniel 1984).

See also:
  1. Kliegel, M., & Martin, M. (2003). Prospective memory research: Why is it relevant? International Journal of Psychology. 38(4), 193-194.
  2. Rummel, J., & McDaniel, M. A. (2019). Prospective Memory. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.
  3. Shelton, J. T., & Scullin, M. K. (2017). The dynamic interplay between bottom-up and top-down processes supporting prospective remembering. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 352-358.
  4. Ellis, J. A. (1988b). Memory for naturally-occurring intentions: remembering what you have done and what you have to do. Paper presented at the London meeting of the British Psychological Society, City University.
  5. Ellis, J. A., & Milne, A. B. (1992a, July). The effects of retrieval cue specificity on prospective memory performance. Paper presented at the meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society, York. Manuscript submitted for publication.
  6. Ellis, J. A. & Williams, J. M. G. (1990, April). Retrospective and prospective remembering: Common and distinct processes. Paper presented at the Experimental Psychology Society, Manchester.
  7. Harris, J. E., & Wilkins, A. J. (1982). Remembering to do things: A theoretical framework and an illustrative experiment. Human Learning, 1, 123 – 136.
  8. Heckhausen, H., & Beckmann, J. (1990). Intentional action and action slips. Psychological Review, 97, 36-48.
  9. Kvavilashvili, L. (1987). Remembering intention as a distinct form of memory. British Journal of Psychology, 78, 507-518.
  10. Remembering intentions: A critical review of existing experimental paradigms. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6, 507-524.
  11. McDaniel, M. A., & Einstein, G. O. (1993). The importance of cue familiarity and cue distinctiveness in prospective memory. Memory, 1, 22-42.
  12. Mäntylä, T. (1993). Priming effects in prospective memory. Memory, 1, 203-218.
  13. Meacham, J. A., & Leiman, B. (1982). Remembering to perform future actions. In U. Neisser (Ed.), Memory observed: Remembering in natural contexts (pp. 327-336). San Francisco: Freeman.
  14. Norman, D. A. (1981). Categorization of action slips. Psychological Review, 88, 1-15.
  15. Norman, D. A. & Shallice, T. (1986). Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior. In R. J. Davison, G. E. Schwartz, & D. Shapiro (Eds.), Consciousness and self-regulation (Vol. 4, pp. 1-18). New York: Plenum.
  16. Rumelhart, D. E., & Norman, D. A. (1982). Simulating a skilled typist: A study of skilled cognitive-motor performance. Cognitive Science, 6, 1-36.
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